The Creative Industry of Singapore: Cultural Policy in the Age of Globalisation

Abstract

This article examines the development of the creative industry in Singapore in the context of globalisation. In studying the application of a government-based development model that prioritises economic goals in fostering a culture-based creative industry, the article explores the effects on the complex social network when the state is involved in introducing Western globalisation into the local society of Singapore. It discusses the major government initiatives to develop the creative industry and the views of local new media artists towards this policy. The article concludes with the resilience of local culture, arguing that the public response and the ‘bottom-up’ artist movement are beginning to embrace new media art forms as part of the national culture in Singapore. New media technology has been a site of cultural practice that allows media artists to participate in the state's development of a homegrown new media industry.